"When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” – C.S. Lewis

Month: September 2016

This is the first of a series of articles breaking down my opinions on the various units in Corregidor and eventually Nomads as a whole. Each new section will appear as an article when I feel enough of the tactica is complete enough to warrant it. The work in progress will always be available in the Nomad Tactica section at the top of the page. Feedback is welcome. I’ve only been playing for about 9 months so I am sure there are things I am missing. These are my opinions based on my experiences.

Light Infantry:

A basic line infantry profile with no special skills, it would be easy to dismiss the Algs as a less than competitive option. At 10 points base, they are not good for a cheap regular order as the likes of Kuang Shi. They can’t shoot particularly well and they don’t have the high WIP or special skills that some other basic line units have. They are just good enough, and being just good enough shouldn’t be underestimated. WIP 13 makes them competent and cheap specialists, with a Hacker, Paramedic, and Forward Observer (FO) all represented. Weapon options are also well covered as aside from the basic Combi, they can take a Missile Launcher, HMG, MULTI Sniper, or under slung Grenade Launcher . A Core Fire Team option can maximize their firepower and all these choices let you really tailor the unit however you like. Sadly, outside of a link, most of the profiles are eclipsed by other options. The one exception to this is the FO. All FOs are equipped with a Flash Pulse, a burst one Technical Weapon (meaning it uses WIP instead of Ballistic Skill (BS)) that causes the target to enter the Stunned state if they are hit and fail their BTS save. The range band on a Flash Pulse is similar to a Combi, but the Algs WIP being two points higher than their BS makes the Flash Pulse a nice ARO piece (where the base burst is always one anyway). The other nice feature of this profile is that the Alg FO has a Deployable Repeater. Although situational, this gives you a nice option on a model you probably won’t mind sacrificing.

Tomcats are awesome, because it turns out that Airborne Deployed (AD) specialists with Light Flame Throwers (LFT) are pretty darn useful. The Tomcats don’t have the best stats, but they are better than Alguaciles in most areas. They still remain relatively cheap. Doctors and Engineers, which are the go-to profiles, are only 22 points. That’s only 10 points more than an Alg paramedic and those 10 points buy you +1 BS and PH, AD, and Climbing Plus. Tomcats can also take AD helper bots called Zondcats for 4 points. There are also some situationally useful profiles with Mines, a D.E.P., and a Deployable Repeater. The Engineer and Docs are the stars though, as they can bring back a Ramboing McMurrough or Sputnik and can do classified objectives. Climbing Plus means that they can even get up to that Intruder’s sniper nest with relative ease. The LFT makes this unit more than just a support piece. A Flamer coming in from the board edge can really ruin your opponents day. Tomcats are very versatile troops that should get serious consideration in any list. The disadvantages to AD are the only reason I wouldn’t run more than 2.

Light Infantry Characters:

I’m not a huge fan of Carlota for the simple reason that she doesn’t bring much to the party that a Tomcat Engineer can’t do cheaper. +1 BS, WIP, ARM and an Adhesive Launcher aren’t a bad deal for 8 more points (if you have points left over), but the WIP is really the only thing that I think matters that much. Even then, most likely you will be using it on G: Remote Presence model that will allow you to use a command token for a re-roll. She comes with her own special Zondcat named Moriarty for the same price that a regular Tomcat gets one. Moriarty does have +3 BTS, so there is that.

Ah Lupe, how I love you. Let me count the ways: Mimetism, Nanopulser, Panzerfaust, Smoke, Dogged, Specialist, +1 pretty much everything except WIP and Wounds (+0, boo) and BTS (+3, yay). Lupe is a 23 point toolbox that can also link with your Alguaciles for even more awesome. Lupe never fails me, I just deploy her badly some times. Outside a link, she can pair with an Intruder to provide smoke support, hunt down Camo markers with her Nanopulser, or capture objectives. Inside a full link she provides a burst 2, BS 15 Panzerfaust ARO to keep your opponent honest or a burst 2, PH 14 Smoke Grenade ARO to keep the link safe. If you can squeeze her in your list do it. You’ll be glad you did. Just remember that she’s still pretty fragile, and that it isn’t always in your best interest to go dogged when there is a Doc around.

(Not available in Vanilla)

I confess that I have never really used Valerya. She never quite makes it into my lists. On paper though, she is solid. She costs 3 more points than an Alguacile Hacker and gets +1 WIP, a Pitcher, and a rather useless Expel upgrade (that might get better depending on what “Tagline” means). The Pitcher or WIP boost alone is worth the 3 points, so the combo makes her a bargain. Like all the Light Infantry models, she’s really crunchy, but with the repeater coverage available in CJC you should be able to use her without risking her too much.

*The Nomad units (Clockmaker, Daktari, and Remotes) available in both sectorials will be covered at a later date.

Medium Infantry:

Hellcats sound awesome at first, being one of the few (I think only) units in the game with Superior Combat Jump, which lets you deploy anywhere your template will fit within your deployment zone if you disperse off to an area where you can’t deploy. Unfortunately, Superior Combat Jump doesn’t mitigate the real risks of Dispersion. The danger for Dispersion isn’t ending up off the board, it’s landing within LoF of enemy troops and taking unopposed AROs. Hellcats suffer a bit due to the presence of the cheaper and often more useful Tomcats. Hellcats add Superior to their Combat Jump along with +1 CC, PH, ARM, and +3 BTS at the expense of being 4-2 MOV instead of 4-4. They also lose the LFT that almost all Tomacats have. This makes a number of the Hellcat profiles lose out to their light infantry brethren. Don’t even get me started on the LT option, which is one of the dumbest profiles in the game. The Assault Hacker, Sptifire, and HMG models are the profiles I think are still worth taking, as the Tomcats don’t have these weapons available. For some reason the HMG profile comes with E/Maulers, which could be useful, however in most situations I’d rather have the Spitfire’s sweet range band. The ability to walk a Hacker in from the board edge can be extremely useful, particularly if you see a lot of Heavy Infantry or TAGs in your area.

EDIT: It was pointed out to me that I did not talk about the Hellcat Boarding Shotgun (BSG). This is a decent choice at 21 points, but still has some issues. The big one is the 4-2 MOV. Since I normally walk my AD troops in from the board edge, the lower move rate ends up being a factor. The Tomcat gives me a template weapon as well the capacity to go into Suppressive Fire, has a 4-4 MOV trait, and comes with a repeater or mines (for 19 pts/ .5 SWC or 20 pts/ 0 SWC respectively). There are situations where the Hellcat BSG would be superior, but most of the time I’m content with using a Tomcat for the added flexibility. In other words, the BSG is the best Hellcat profile out of the ones that I don’t take.

The Intruders are widely believed to be one of the best Medium Infantry in the game. With a high (Outside Pan-O) BS (13), excellent profile choices, high WIP (14), and respectable armor (3), the Intruder would be already be “good.” It is the combination of MSV2 and camouflage that makes the Intruder stand out, and it’s the easy availability of smoke in Corregidor that makes the Intruder strike fear into the hearts of your opponents. Intruders aren’t a win button though, and take a little more finesse to use properly than it appears at first glance. The profiles that will see the most use are the HMG and MULTI Sniper (MSR) and I’ll get to those in a second. A strong case can be made for the Hacker and LT options. An LT in a marker state is hard to kill and can actually make good use of it’s LT order, and a WIP 14 Hacker benefitting from Surprise Shot has a pretty good chance at winning face to face rolls. What hurts both of these profiles is the 4-2 move which is punishing on a camo marker troop. Getting back the HMG/MSR, which one of these you want depends on what you want your Intruder to do. The HMG excels in the active turn (Burst 4, Grenades) and midfield control (Suppressive Fire), while the MSR excels in ARO (DA ammo) and can shut down fire lanes across the board. Be wary of stranding your Intruders on top of buildings or anywhere that they will have trouble vacating. It can also be a challenge to get medical attention to them if they go down. Intruders also shine with Smoke support, and can easily get -12 MODs with the combination of Camo, Smoke, and Surprise Shot. At 40+ points for the HMG/MSR it will take some practice to see how much to risk your Intruders. Your opponent will be gunning for them and if he takes them out early you could be in real trouble.

On paper Wildcats are really good. I’ve not gotten them to work as well as I’d like on the table, but I think that has more to do with me than the unit. Why are they good? For a great price you get Flamethrowers and D-charges on most profiles, good BS (13) solid WIP (13), and good protection (ARM 2, BTS 6). There are lots of profile options including the shooty Heavy Rocket Launcher (HRL) and Spitfire, the Engineer and Assault Hacker Specialists, and the useful Number 2 and Haris link. Wildcats are also one of your better LT options coming in at 19 points with no SWC tax. None of the Wildcat profiles cost more than 25 points, so you can field a full link with tons of options for under 120 points. This leaves you plenty of room for support pieces.

Corregidor Heavy Infantry, Skirmisher, and Warband choices are up next

So, It’s been almost a year since my last sporadic posts. In that time a lot has happened. First of all, I don’t watch much Anime anymore. The weekly anime reviews will not be coming back. It’s not that I no longer like Anime, it’s just that I don’t have the time to view it on a regular basis. I will try to finish my Top Anime reviews, and if anything seems deserving of a shout out (like Re: Zero, for example), I will try to squeeze in a write up. What this blog will largely be about going forward is the table top war game Infinity.

One of the big changes in my life over the last year is that I have started playing Infinity on a regular basis. I enjoy the game immensely, both for the challenge it provides and the community that surrounds it. There isn’t too much in the way of tactica out there for the game, so I thought I’d add some. There are a few quality podcasts and a couple of really good blogs, but nothing that covers my preferred faction, the Nomads. For the foreseeable future, I will be focusing on just this faction. That’s it for now. Here are the podcasts and blogs I recommend.